Thoughts about the markets, automated trading algorithms, technical analysis, and lots of other stuff.

Television

January 27, 2019

In 1977, the Voyager 1 launched into space. Just over a dozen years later, the Voyager 1 spacecraft had traveled farther than any spacecraft/probe/human-made anything had gone before. It was approximately 6 billion kilometers away from earth. At that point, the Voyager 1 was "told" by Carl Sagan to turn around and take one last photo of the Earth ... a pale blue dot.

The resulting photo is impressive precisely because it shows so little in so much.

"Every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam." – Carl Sagan

Earth is in the far right sunbeam – a little below halfway down the image. This image (and the ability to send it back to earth) was the culmination of years of effort, the advancement of technology, and the dreams of mankind.

The resulting speech from Carl Sagan is still profound, moving, and worth a listen.

Look again at that dot. That's here. That's home. That's us. On it everyone you love, everyone you know, everyone you ever heard of, every human being who ever was, lived out their lives. The aggregate of our joy and suffering, thousands of confident religions, ideologies, and economic doctrines, every hunter and forager, every hero and coward, every creator and destroyer of civilization, every king and peasant, every young couple in love, every mother and father, hopeful child, inventor and explorer, every teacher of morals, every corrupt politician, every "superstar," every "supreme leader," every saint and sinner in the history of our species lived there--on a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam.

The Earth is a very small stage in a vast cosmic arena. Think of the rivers of blood spilled by all those generals and emperors so that, in glory and triumph, they could become the momentary masters of a fraction of a dot. Think of the endless cruelties visited by the inhabitants of one corner of this pixel on the scarcely distinguishable inhabitants of some other corner, how frequent their misunderstandings, how eager they are to kill one another, how fervent their hatreds.

Our posturings, our imagined self-importance, the delusion that we have some privileged position in the Universe, are challenged by this point of pale light. Our planet is a lonely speck in the great enveloping cosmic dark. In our obscurity, in all this vastness, there is no hint that help will come from elsewhere to save us from ourselves.

The Earth is the only world known so far to harbor life. There is nowhere else, at least in the near future, to which our species could migrate. Visit, yes. Settle, not yet. Like it or not, for the moment the Earth is where we make our stand.

It has been said that astronomy is a humbling and character-building experience. There is perhaps no better demonstration of the folly of human conceits than this distant image of our tiny world. To me, it underscores our responsibility to deal more kindly with one another, and to preserve and cherish the pale blue dot, the only home we've ever known.

Today, we have people living in space, posting videos from the ISS, and high-resolution images of space and galaxies near and far.

We take for granted the immense phase shift in technology. You have more computing power in your pocket than we first used to go to the moon.

As humans, we're wired to think locally and linearly. We evolved to live our lives in small groups, to fear outsiders, and to stay in a general region until we die. We're not wired to think about the billions and billions of individuals on our planet, or the rate of technological growth - or the minuteness of that all in regard to the expanse of space.

However, today's reality necessitates we think about the world, our impact, and what's now possible for us.

We created better and faster ways to travel, we've created instantaneous communication networks across vast distances, and we've created megacities. Our tribes have gotten much bigger - and with that, our ability to enact massive change has grown as well.

Space was the first bastion of today's innovation, but today we can look toward A.I., medicine, epigenetics, and more.

It's hard to comprehend the scale of the universe and the scale of our potential ... but that's what makes it worth exploring!

It's not enough to invest in the right ideas or technologies. You have to invest in the right people as well.

"Standing still is moving backward ... so you don't only need new technology, you need a new level of data scientists – a new level of professional that can think about what's possible, rather than how to do what we want to do right now."

Even though we've got an incredible edge now. I recognize that edges decay faster than ever. The trick is to stay ahead.

I can predict that the future is bright ... And I know that the best way to predict the future is to create it.

But TV viewership has dropped over 50% ... and that's not a sustainable model anymore.

Luckily, like a true "Shark" he realized something that many people don't...

You have to be committed to your goals, not the tools you use to accomplish that goal.

I shot a video with Kevin where we talk about that ... and more. Check it out

If you have been doing the same thing for 18 months (or longer), chances are the practical realities of time, technology, and a changing competitive landscape implies that you should be doing something different (or at least differently).

When I think about World Leaders (in places like North Korea, Russia, or Syria), I recognize how lucky we are to be able to elect our leaders in fair and free elections.

Unfortunately, that's not an opportunity that we take advantage nearly enough.

America has a two-party system, and we count our votes down district and state lines to decide which candidate will end up with the electoral votes for that state ... but what if abstention was counted as a vote for nobody?

April 22, 2018

Our physical and virtual realities are beginning to blend. Animation is becoming more realistic. Virtual and augmented reality are becoming more affordable. Wearables are becoming pervasive. And, the internet of things will soon overtake the Internet.

We're moving towards a world where technology envelops every aspect of our lives ... figuratively and literally.

The following (still fictional) video is thought-provoking. What happens when these new technologies are used to influence behavior, decision-making, and even your identity?

"Not too far in the future you will begin to see the integration of AR and VR together eventually leading to having your favorite performer on your lap, in your bedroom doing a custom performance for you and responding to your verbal and physical cues."

Your doctor or nutritionist could help you make better choices for you. Your therapist or coach could help you perceive and respond differently to the challenges life presents you. Marketers could better influence your purchases. Employers could better monitor and measure your performance and productivity. And governments will not be far behind ... doing what they do.

Like many things, these technologies make possible awesome new capabilities (if used well) and horrific consequences (if abused or used in authoritarian ways).

April 08, 2018

There is nothing wrong with your television. Do not attempt to adjust the picture. We are now controlling the transmission. We control the horizontal and the vertical. We can deluge you with a thousand channels or expand one single image to crystal clarity and beyond. We can shape your vision to anything our imagination can conceive. - The Outer Limits (1963)

It almost feels like an episode of Black Mirror, watching these stations quote the same pre-determined diatribe on fake news and it's danger to our democracy.

The very message they are purportedly supporting directly contradicts their actions.

I think most people realize this happens to some degree ... but, it's different when it's presented like this.

Personally, I believe I am reasonably aware and somewhat immune from propaganda. That probably isn't as true as I'd like to believe.

To put it in context - Sinclar Broadcast Group owns nearly 200 stations in 80 different markets, and are looking to buy out more. That is a powerful platform to deliver mass messages and influence the zeitgeist of its audience.

It used to be true that winners wrote history (think empires, wars, etc.). Now, the one that delivers the most broadcast narratives shapes the emotional and seemingly logical responses to what we perceive to be happening around us.

The result impacts elections, financial markets, buying choices, and countless other areas of our life.

As A.I., Bots, and social media grow, our ability to discern truth from 'truthiness' weakens.

While critics contend that something needs to be done about the various issues surrounding the NFL, it's hard to conclude that those issues affect viewership. The NFL currently dominates attendance per game, viewership, and revenue.